As we begin to look ahead to the next few weeks of international football, we had one final round of games in domestic football to tune in for. With the Carabao Cup final also taking place alongside these games, we had plenty to tune in for this weekend and plenty of talking points to come from this week.

Although many of the big battles at the top and bottom of the table are all but decided, we still have European places up for grabs and also several teams battling to get into the top half. As a result, we saw a few key results this weekend which could result in a big impact on final standings in just 9 rounds of fixtures time.

As always, in this post we will be picking out 3 of the biggest talking points of the weekend, along with giving out the game of the week and player of the week awards. If we’ve missed something in this post that you saw over the weekend please do get in touch with us on all the usual places (Bluesky @NextGoalWinner – Instagram @NextGoalWin), and if you prefer an audio round up of the action then do check out our YouTube channel (@NextGoalWinner) where we post weekly reviews on there of all the key talking points in the Premier League and around Europe.

First Silverware Of The Season

While the Premier League was wrapping up prior to the final international break of the season, there was silverware up for graphs as the Carabao Cup final offered Liverpool a chance to redeem their week after their European exit, and still keep hopes of a double alive. For Newcastle however their historic wait for silverware has been well documented and with fans descending on London to make it the Newcastle of the South, the atmosphere was electric as Sunday afternoon’s final got underway.

It was Newcastle United who ended a 70-year domestic trophy drought by defeating Liverpool 2-1 at Wembley Stadium and taking the silverware in front of an raucous crowd of thousands. The Magpies took the lead just before halftime when defender Dan Burn, recently called up to the England squad, scored a towering header. Shortly after the break, Alexander Isak doubled Newcastle’s advantage, capitalizing on a defensive lapse to slot the ball past Liverpool’s goalkeeper.

Liverpool, despite being Premier League champions in waiting, struggled to find their rhythm throughout the match. Mo Salah had an uncharacteristically quiet game, failing to register a single shot or create any significant chances, which only adds to his surprising poor run in finals for Liverpool which had been brought up on the broadcast prior to kick-off. Arne Slot’s side appeared fatigued, possibly still reeling from their recent Champions League exit to Paris Saint-Germain, and despite a late goal from Federico Chiesa in injury time, it was insufficient to overturn Newcastle’s lead.

The victory marked a significant milestone for Newcastle United and their manager, Eddie Howe, who became the first English manager in 17 years to win a major English trophy. The triumph was celebrated passionately by the club’s supporters, including Newcastle legend Alan Shearer, and notable fans like Ant and Dec, who were frequently shown during the broadcast. This long-awaited success not only ended decades of near misses but also signalled Newcastle’s resurgence as a formidable force in English football and a huge boost to the club’s long term strategic goals and project.

Already Relegated

Looking back at the league action, there was a clash between Southampton and Wolverhampton Wanderers at the bottom of the table. In this important clash for the relegation battle, it was Wolves who claimed a huge 3 points to create a bigger gap between themselves and the bottom 3. With Strand Larsen bagging twice for Wolves, the late Southampton goal was nothing but a consolation as Wolves now have a 9 point gap from the drop zone, and it seems more inevitable that the promoted 3 will soon become the relegated 3.

The notable point from a Southampton point of view came mainly in the post-game interview, as manager Ivan Juric made some honest comments to the media, stating “we will go down, but with more fight, more dignity and more everything”. These comments came amid chants during the game from the home fans of “you don’t know what you’re doing” towards the manager after a substitution of Mateus Fernandes. The statement of course is what most football fans had already confirmed a while ago, but to hear this from within the club could prove even more damaging as the club look to avoid the record low points tally this season.

For Wolves who sit on 26 points, 9 clear of Ipswich and Leicester City, things are looking pretty safe given Leicester’s approach in their Sunday defeat to Manchester United, and despite Ipswich bagging 2 against Nottingham Forest, the 4 conceded means they also have given themselves a very tough task. Southampton however are battling against the history books as they need 3 more points in their remaining 9 games to avoid breaking or matching Derby County’s record-low 11 points in 2007-2008. While the manager has admitted defeat in any relegation battle, the push for 3 more points must continue.

Haaland’s 100

Nearer the top of the table, Manchester City showed some of their attacking quality against Brighton, however despite bagging 2 first half goals, they were only left with a point from their Saturday clash as Brighton fought hard against the underperforming City side.

While the dropped 2 points could harm City’s top 4 hopes as they now sit in 5th, with Newcastle holding a game in hand and only 4 points separating them in 5th and Bournemouth in 10th. Brighton also have hopes of European places as their 5 game unbeaten run now see’s them leaders in the chasing pack as they sit in 7th and with a genuine chance of closing down the inconsistent City and Chelsea.

It wasn’t all about the dropped points however for City, as Erling Haaland broke yet another record, as his penalty in the 11th minute brought about his 100th Premier League goal contribution in record time. With just 94 games needed to reach 100 goal contributions in the Premier League, he reached this milestone 6 games quicker than Shearer in 2nd (100 games), Cantona and Salah (116 games) and former City star Sergio Aguero (118 games). Despite the poor season for City, the records continue to fall for Erling Haaland.

Game of the week: Ipswich Town 2-4 Nottingham Forest With a late comeback attempt from Ipswich who bagged 2 goals late on in their clash with Forest, the game had plenty of action and quality attacking play. With goals flying in throughout, Forest picked up a big 3 points while teams behind them in the top 4 race dropped points, and their incredible campaign continues.

Player of the week: Anthony Elanga With 2 goals in Forest’s win over Ipswich, Elanga’s attacking play was key to this as he bagged the 2nd and 3rd goal just before the half-time break which put the game to bed before Ipswich had any chance to steady themselves. With Forest continuing their remarkable run, Elanga is showing the quality at the very top level as he and the rest of Nottingham Forest will be eyeing up some Champions League nights to come next season.